A known faucet valve including a safety handle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,144, and the disclosure of said patent is hereby expressly incorporated be reference into the present specification. The safety handle faucet disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,144 has enjoyed commercial success, but a need has been identified for an alternative version, in which certain assembly steps are simplified and in which certain assembly errors can be avoided, without decreasing safety or performance.
FIGS. 1 through 3 show the general overall arrangement of a known dispensing type valve or faucet assembly 10 that generally includes a main body 12 that carries a valve element and bonnet arrangement 14. A suitable manually operable cam actuator handle assembly 16 is arranged for providing selective opening of the valve element.
The body 12 is formed of a metal or suitable plastic or resinous material and has an inlet end 18 and a nozzle or outlet end 20. The horizontal portion 12a of the body 12 defines the inlet passage or inlet 22 that joins with a cylindrical or otherwise shaped valve chamber 24 that extends vertically in body section 12b. Chamber 24 has an outlet passage or outlet 26 that is generally in alignment with the axis of the valve chamber 24 and provides an outlet passage to the outlet end 20. It will be noted that the annular shoulder at the juncture between valve chamber 24 and the outlet passage 26 generally provides a seat 28 of flat, annular configuration.
Positioned within the valve chamber 24 and arranged to cooperate with the seat 28 to control flow from the valve chamber to the outlet passage 26 is a seat cup valve element 30 which has a generally cup-like shape and is preferably molded from silicon rubber or some suitable elastomer capable of withstanding the operating conditions to which it is to be subjected in the faucet assembly 10. As illustrated (see also the exploded view of FIG. 4), the cup-like valve element 30 has a lower cylindrical or frusto-conical end portion 32 which is of smaller diameter than the interior of the valve chamber and terminates in a closed end wall 34. End wall 34 is sized and arranged so that it can sealingly engage about the seat 28 when it is driven downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 2 to block liquid flow from the inlet passage 22 and valve chamber 24 into the outlet passage 26. The upper end of the valve element 30 extends radially outward as shown and is sized so as to be tightly received in the larger diameter counterbore section 36 formed about the upper end of valve chamber 24 (see FIG. 2).
The valve element 30 is maintained in position and sealingly engaged about its upper end with the counterbore 36. It is held in this position by a bonnet element 38 that is threaded to the upper end of the vertical section 12b of body 12 and, in a manner subsequently to be described, clamps axially downward on the upper edge of valve element 30.
The valve element 30 is joined to an inner end of an operating stem element 40 (see FIG. 4) that extends outwardly of the valve body through a central opening 106 in an insert member 94 connected to the bonnet 38. As shown, the lower or inner end of stem 40 has a spaced pair of flanges 42 and 44 that define a circumferential groove 46. The lower end of the stem is thus adapted to be tightly received and resiliently gripped in the interior lower end of the valve element 30. Note that the valve element 30 includes an inwardly extending flange portion 48 to thereby define a closed lower end 50 that encompasses the flange 44 to provide a connection between the stem and cup when the stem is forced into position in the valve element.
Positioned coaxially about the stem 40 is a compression coil spring 52 that has a reduced diameter lower end 54 that rests on the upper surface of flange 42. The spring 52 thus maintains the stem 40 and the valve element 30 continually biased toward a closed position as shown in FIG. 2.
The operating stem and valve element are moved between the first, lower or closed position (FIG. 2) and a second, upper or open position, where the seat cup end wall 34 is lifted away from the seat 28 to allow liquid flow into the outlet passage 26, by the previously-mentioned cam actuator handle assembly 16 that selectively pulls the seat cup end wall 34 away from the seat 28 with associated resilient deformation of the seat cup valve element 30. Although the actuator handle assembly 16 could vary substantially, from what is shown, the subject assembly 16 is a known form of safety handle which is arranged to prevent movement of the valve stem in a vertically upward direction until the user has manually moved the handle to an operating position, at which time it can be rotated to move the stem open, in order to prevent unintended opening of the faucet 10.
In particular, and as best understood by reference to FIGS. 2, 2A, and 4, the actuator handle assembly 16 includes a two-part, manually operable handle including a first lever-like component 60 that has a pair of laterally spaced, downwardly extending leg elements 61a and 62a that join to a radially extending lever body 64. The legs 61a, 62a each include inwardly extending, short pivot pin portions 66 that are arranged to join to slots or grooves 71 formed in opposite sides of the outer or upper end of stem 40 (see FIG. 4).
Slidably received on the pivoted lever body 64 is a cam actuator or handle element 68. The cam actuator or handle element 68 is linearly axially slidable on the lever 64 and is retained thereon by side flanges that extend down on laterally opposite sides of the end portion 69. Also, a transverse retainer bar 70 extends between opposite sides 72 and 74 of the cam actuator element 68. Sides 72 and 74 further define a pair of spaced cam surfaces 76. The operation of cam surfaces 76 will subsequently be described. However, for the present, it should be noted that the cam actuator element 68 is normally maintained biased to the left in a disengaged position as shown in FIG. 2 by a compression spring 78 suitably retained in position between an end wall on cam actuator element 68 and the outer end of lever portion 64. Outward movement of the cam actuator element 68 beyond the solid line position shown in FIG. 2 is prevented by laterally extending end shoulders 80 carried on the lever 64 and engaging suitable stop surfaces on the cam actuator element 68.
With the cam actuator element 68 in its outwardly biased, disengaged position as shown in FIG. 2, downward pivotal movement of the actuator handle 16 about the outer end of the stem 40 results in abutment of the lower corner of the cam elements 76 with the side of the body 30 such that no upward or outward pulling force is placed on the stem 40 by this engagement since the forces are generally acting radially of the stem. However, when the cam actuator element 68 is moved radially inward to its engaged position as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2 by compression forces on the outer end, and thereafter pivoted by manual force in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2, the cam surfaces 76 are in position to engage with the top of the bonnet 38 and/or the insert member 94 connected to the bonnet 38 as described below) and cause an upwardly/outwardly directed force to be applied to the stem 40 to pull the seat cup valve element 30 away from the seat 28 and open the valve. Upon release of the actuator handle 16, the compression spring 52 forces the resilient seat cup valve element 30 back against the seat 28 and causes the valve to close. The spring 78 moves the cam actuator element 68 back to the solid line position of FIG. 2. Thus, as can be seen, the valve is normally moved to an open position only by a combination of movements which normally could never result merely by inadvertent contact with the handle and cam actuator assembly 16. That is, the handle must be compressed into the dotted line position and pivoted in a counterclockwise direction before opening can take place.
In addition to the above, the subject invention includes means to prevent any lateral tilting of the stem in directions lying in planes parallel to the pivot axis between the stem 40 and the cam actuator 16 as defined by the pins 66. The means to prevent this tilting in the subject invention comprise spaced parallel walls 90, 92 which define guide surfaces that are parallel to the outer surfaces of the legs 61a and 62a (see FIG. 3). The walls 90, 92 extend upwardly above the bonnet and engage legs 61a and 62a in close sliding guiding relationship. Although it is of course possible for the walls 90, 92 to be an integral part of the bonnet member 38, in the subject embodiment, they are formed as a portion of an insert member 94 that is positioned between the bonnet and the upper end of the vertical portion of valve body 12. The insert member 94 is best illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. As shown therein, it includes a circular base portion 96 having an outwardly extending flange 98. The flange 98 is sized so as to extend under the radially inwardly extending flange 38a on the bonnet 38. Suitable snap tabs 100 are located above the flange 98 a short distance substantially equal to the thickness of bonnet flange 38a. The insert member can then be inserted into position in the bonnet member 38 by being forced upwardly therein until the tabs 100 latch with the top surface of the bonnet. The wall portions 90, 92 are molded integrally with the circular lower wall and are also connected by an integral end wall 102 which gives them lateral rigidity. Wall 102 also provides a vertical guide surface that prevents tilting of the stem in a direction toward wall 102. A suitable tapered brace portion 104 is also connected between the circular bottom 96 and the end wall 102. The circular bottom is further provided with a central opening 106 that closely engages and guides the stem 40.
The arrangement described with respect to the insert member 94 constrains the cam actuator assembly 16 for the desired strictly vertical and rotary movement because of the guide surfaces provided by the walls 90 and 92. Thus, forces acting laterally against the handle in directions parallel to the axis defined by pins 66 cannot cause any inadvertent crack opening which might result from such lateral tilting even though the cam surfaces 76 have not been moved inwardly. Likewise, forces acting perpendicular to back wall 102 cannot, by themselves, produce opening.
With continuing reference to FIGS. 1-5 described above, in certain cases, the bonnet 38 is threaded on the body 12 with excessive torque during assembly or after cleaning, which leads to the flange 98 of the insert member 94 being clamped between the bonnet 38 and the valve body 12. It has generally been deemed desirable for a user to be able to rotate the actuator assembly 16 about the vertical, longitudinal axis of the stem 40, and this requires corresponding rotational movement of the insert member 94 relative to the bonnet 38 and vertical portion 12b of the body. If the insert member 94 is clamped between the bonnet 38 and the body 12, the actuator assembly 16 cannot be rotated as just described without use of undesirably high force which can lead to component breakage and user dissatisfaction.